Kyle Richards Defends Gwen Stefani Over ‘I’m Japanese’ Comment

Gwen Stefani found an unexpected supporter in Kyle Richards on Wednesday (Jan. 11) in the wake of her controversial statements about being Japanese.

One day prior, Stefani made headlines by defending her long-documented love of Harajuku culture in a profile for Allure. “My God, I’m Japanese and I didn’t know it,” she said in the piece. (For the record, the Anaheim, Calif., native is of Italian and Irish descent.)

The comments have attracted all kinds of reactions — from ire and confusion to accusations of appropriation — from fans on social media, but the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills OG didn’t seem to see what the big problem was. “Everyone can’t wait to be offended by something,” she commented an Instagram post by E! News about Stefani’s quote from the interview.

Thus far, Stefani herself has stayed mum amid the online backlash; the pop star’s most recent Instagram post, shared one day before the interview went live, featured her promoting her GXVE cosmetics line. (According to Allure, she turned down a request to clarify or add additional context to her statements prior to publication.)

Surely, Stefani’s controversial statement isn’t the only music-related story Richards has her mind on these days either. Just before New Year’s, her famous niece Paris Hilton dropped a new version of the socialite’s cult classic 2006 single “Stars Are Blind.” The DJ and heiress, whose mom Kathy Hilton has appeared on the last two seasons of RHOBH with Richards as a friend of the Housewives, also gave a surprise performance of the track alongside Miley Cyrus and Sia during NBC’s Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party on Dec. 31.